The OPMOM Blog

The New Classic French Picnic

Take, par exemple, the picnic.  Next time you head out to the neighborhood pool or for a walk in the woods, how about breaking out of your sandwich and chips routine?  Wander down a new aisle at the store, spend just a few extra minutes preparing a cold salad or branching out with a simple dessert, and you will find your whole outlook is perked up.  Inject that joie de vivre in everything you do, and there you will discover something new.

One of the most memorable experiences I ever had during the time I lived in Provence was a picnic in an olive grove. Les quiches, les huîtres (oysters), the wine, the scratched up fingers and aching arms from a morning spent picking olives off the peaceful branches.  Oh mon dieu, it was paradise.   The past few months in Houston have been too hot to sport a picnic outside, unless you’re by the pool.  But back in June when we traveled to Emerald Isle, North Carolina for our annual Shearer Family week at the beach, we celebrated our first night with a picnic party spread worthy of an afternoon on the Seine.

 Our sightline was not the Eiffel Tower, but the Atlantic Ocean.  And we stayed indoors because, although it was a beautiful night at the seaside, sometimes when you have five cousins under the age of nine, the idea of a sandy, water-logged baguette just isn’t that appealing.   So while we listened to a custom-made “Frenchified” radio station on pandora.com , we sipped on chilled rosé, passed the French bread, creamy brie, saumon fumé (smoked salmon), and salty olives, and topped off our delicious, light repast with fresh, homemade blueberry pie.  (Okay, I know.  That is where we digressed; the French would have gone with a tarte aux cerises, but the blueberry sour cream pie is a Waters/ Shearer Family favorite.)  See the recipe: Blueberry Sour Cream Pie

For a fresh new twist on your own classic French picnic, forgo the turkey sandwich and the bag of chips.   Make sure you have plenty of olives, the saltier and brinier the better.  Same goes for cold, raw oysters, if you can get them.  A thin slice of bread, toasted like a cracker, spread with boursin and topped with Lox makes an excellent amuse-bouche, as does a good salami or jambon cru from your deli.   As for wine, I recommend a Sancerre from the south of France.  It’s light and refreshing, just right on a hot day and a wonderful complement to fresh melons and berries for dessert.  Or of course, there’s always that pie. . .

Whether your backdrop is the French countryside, a park bench in Paris, East Coast, West Coast, or your own backyard, bon appétit!